House of Allah open for all: Qataris still able to visit KSA for Hajj

The Saudi Press Agency on Monday confirmed that Saudi Arabia is committed to providing all facilities and services to Qatari pilgrims.The assurance was made following the news of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt who all announced they would withdraw their diplomatic staff from Qatar.

All four states said they planned to cut air and sea traffic, while Saudi Arabia said it also would shut its land border with Qatar. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain asked Qatari visitors and nationals to leave within 14 days.

However, this decision does not affect Qatari Haj and Umrah pilgrims, a Saudi official source said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency.

“The Kingdom has reaffirmed its commitment and keenness to provide all facilities and services to Qatari Haj and Umrah pilgrims despite severing diplomatic and consular relations with Qatar”, said Brig. Gen. Dr Muhammad Al-Minshawi (retired), former director of the Criminal Investigations Department in Makkah.

In 2016, 1,325,372 foreign and 537,537 domestic pilgrims performed Haj, making a total of 1,862,909 pilgrims. This was the lowest number of pilgrims recorded in the last 10 years.More than 2.4 million Muslims performed the Haj pilgrimage in 2007, according to reports.